Can't find a good food for Rosco's tummy

[ryssann]

We have had Rosco for a month now. He came to us on Puppy Chow. I purchased Orijen puppy, and slowly transitioned him. In the middle of the transition, he started having loose stools with mucus. We took him to the vet, she didn't think the food transition was the cause of the loose stools, and put him on a wormer. He did test negative, but I gave it to him. Things seemed to get better, and then it started all over again. I changed to NOW puppy, it has no grains and nothing rendered. Supposed to be a very mild food. Things seemed to get better, but he was only eating about half if that of what was recommended. There were meals that he skipped entirely. I went back to the store and got Evanger's canned duck. I put less than a teaspoon in with the kibble and stir it in so that every kibble had some on it. He ate it right up, and was so excited for the next feeding. Well, the loose stools are back. Not every time, and every morning stool is fine, and has been since the beginning.

So, do I eliminate the canned, and figure he will eat when he is hungry?
Take him back to the vet and worm him again? (To the tune of $109)
Change his food again?

Oh, and he is interested in eating everything outside, but not the plain kibble that is the only thing that doesn't seem to upset his stomach. Good thing I can get my hands in his mouth to take things out.

He was doing fine on the Puppy Chow, but I don't want to feed him that.

Thanks for reading if you got through all this poop talk.

[MY OSCAR]

Originally Posted by ryssann

we have had rosco for a month now. He came to us on puppy chow. I purchased orijen puppy, and slowly transitioned him. In the middle of the transition, he started having loose stools with mucus. We took him to the vet, she didn't think the food transition was the cause of the loose stools, and put him on a wormer. He did test negative, but i gave it to him. Things seemed to get better, and then it started all over again. I changed to now puppy, it has no grains and nothing rendered. Supposed to be a very mild food. Things seemed to get better, but he was only eating about half if that of what was recommended. There were meals that he skipped entirely. I went back to the store and got evanger's canned duck. I put less than a teaspoon in with the kibble and stir it in so that every kibble had some on it. He ate it right up, and was so excited for the next feeding. Well, the loose stools are back. Not every time, and every morning stool is fine, and has been since the beginning.

So, do i eliminate the canned, and figure he will eat when he is hungry?
Take him back to the vet and worm him again? (to the tune of $109)
change his food again?

Oh, and he is interested in eating everything outside, but not the plain kibble that is the only thing that doesn't seem to upset his stomach. Good thing i can get my hands in his mouth to take things out.

He was doing fine on the puppy chow, but i don't want to feed him that.

Thanks for reading if you got through all this poop talk.

i understand that you would rather not feed him the puppy chow but since he is having so much tummy trouble maybe you could keep him on the puppy chow till he gets a bit older like 7 months..
sometimes young puppies have a hard time adjusting to a diet change.
when you get ready to change again try a mild diet .
i give mine blue buffalo sensitive solution grain free.
he is doing good on it..

[Britster]

I'd find something very simple.

California Natural has some options (both grain inclusive and grain free) that are VERY simple. They have a puppy formula as well, so you are still getting him enough protein/fat.

We feed Acana (Lamb & Apple and Duck & Pear) which are simple, single source protein foods with only one grain. He does great on them, but also did good on their grain-free variety. Acana is made by the same company as Orijen, but yeah, Orijen can be a little too rich for some dogs (and it's very easy to over-feed).

I'd eliminate the canned Evangers if it were me (but I don't really like Evangers too much as a company, since they lied about ingredients in the past).

You could even try Royal Canin. It may be a *bit* more similar to the Puppy Chow, but definitely much higher quality, IMO and more "middle of the road" in terms of kibble.

But yeah, agree that I wouldn't do a ton of switching, but I would get him off the puppy chow, and get his belly back in order. Maybe even some plain chicken & rice to calm the belly (unless you don't want him tasting the chicken - he may never eat dog food plain again, LOL)

Btw, welcome to YT from another MD'er!

[ryssann]

Thanks for the heads up on Evangers. I think I will leave him on the NOW, and replace the Evangers with just a little pumpkin and see how that goes. The NOW was fine without the canned, he just didn't eat enough. He is growing and gaining. He's already 4.5 lbs.

What part of MD are you from? I am in the Frederick area.

[sophias mommy]

Sophia has a really sensitive stomach, and our vet recommended anything meant for sensitive stomachs. So we have her and Brody and Blue Buffalo Basics - Salmon and potato. It works great for both of them. We also have the Turkey and potato flavor too .

[Britster]

Originally Posted by ryssann

Thanks for the heads up on Evangers. I think I will leave him on the NOW, and replace the Evangers with just a little pumpkin and see how that goes. The NOW was fine without the canned, he just didn't eat enough. He is growing and gaining. He's already 4.5 lbs.

What part of MD are you from? I am in the Frederick area.

Oh yah, meant to add, I like Now! and Go! a lot too... Jax didn't care much for the flavor tho back when I tried it

I am in the Annapolis area - I was just visiting in Frederick last weekend.

I'd love to see pics!! My big boy is 16lbs (and full of muscle, and skinny - just a bigger guy). He was like 5lbs at 9 weeks old lol.